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It's the end of another season and although football is a team game, I feel some player ratings are
necessary to highlight the obvious deficiencies in this team.
Full details of how the rating system (out of ten) works are here, but essentially, 6 is average, 8
is excellent and anything below 5 is pretty abysmal.
1) There are no longer any mitigating factors: time and again he has been given chances and time
and again he has failed to deliver. Theo Walcott is not an Arsenal quality player.
But today it got worse than that: he was more of a hindrance than a help. He consistently gave the
ball away, didn't make a single good cross and generally looked completely anonymous.
Perhaps not putting pen to paper - or is that cursor to screen, keyboard to 'new post' - has been
useful for me when it comes to looking at the Everton match, which was a staggering ten days
ago.
Because whenever you score late, in the aftermath of the match, the result secured takes on a
special glow which casts its light far and wide.
Much though I dislike international football, I have nonetheless been watching the World Cup and
I've been meaning to blog a few things about it for a while.
1) There was lot of revisionist stuff written in the media after the England-Algeria game about how
Capello is not a very good tactician.
The debacle of the French performance at the World Cup was entirely expected. The players were too
old, and Domenech too over-paid and arrogant a coach.
But what I found most interesting was what happened after the players' rift with Domenech. Because
what the BBC commentator repeatedly said was that it was Henry who took the players through the
warm-up and seemed to be pulling them together.
Because of our FA Cup defeat to Stoke, this has been a football-free weekend for Arsenal. So I
thought I'd take my time to consider my thoughts about the Liverpool match, rather than rush into
writing something whilst still in the euphoria of victory. To cut this rather long and bloated
preamble a little bit shorter, I simply don't agree with a lot of what I've read in the blogosphere
and in the papers: this was not a performance based on old-style footballing values.
Porto 2 Arsenal 1
Poor. Very, very poor.
Porto are a bit like Aston Villa: nothing special but a solid side who will always do reasonably
well in the Champions League without winning it (unless they have an inspirational manager and help
from the referees). They've got a big man and a little man up front and two reasonably talented
wingers.
Blackburn 2 Arsenal 1
1) Going out to play with nothing to play for is difficult. If Arsenal had won, say, 2-0 it would
have been remarked it was a dead game. It's interesting to note that both in the newspapers and the
blogs, a post-mortem is taking place in spite of this. Short of winning 6-0, Arsenal were always
going to be criticised for at best, the fact yesterday's game meant nothing, and at worst, for
failing to get a positive result.
Today this blog has a proverbial cherry popped: although it was started back in April 2008, I had
never posted in July. Until today.
But I felt I owed it to myself, more than to my loyal readership (of one) that I should finish the
player ratings which I started over four weeks ago.
So, in the hope that somebody is still interested with the World Cup ongoing, here are my player
ratings for the strikers.
Arsenal 6 Blackpool 0
1) There's been a lot written about how the goalkeeping situation has undermined Almunia and the
other goalkeepers. Far less has been written about the fans getting on their backs. The first home
game of the new season was really the test of this - how would the fans react to Almunia in goal?
Back in August it was nigh on impossible to make predictions for the season. Even those who did had
to temper them with a ton of caveats. Patrick Barclay in The Times tipped Arsenal for the title
only on the proviso they signed a goalkeeper.
So I avoided making predictions bar writing that I was worried.
Sunderland 1 Arsenal 1
In the same way that there were positives and negatives to be taken from Arsenal's performance,
there are times when a draw feels like a point gained and there are times when it feels like two
points dropped.
What's been odd about the draws against Liverpool and again against Sunderland, was that they were
somewhere in the middle.
It's the small things that count. Five years down the line, Arsenal fans may well still be
celebrating the time Fergie said he was too busy and let Gary Neville show Aaron Ramsey around the
training ground. Or, perhaps more importantly, how Arsene Wenger flew Ramsey and his parents out to
Euro 2008 and explained the benefits of little Aaron signing for Arsenal.
Here are some stats which may surprise you: Aston Villa have conceded the fewest goals of any team
in the Premiership this season. They've scored the same number of goals as West Ham: their League
position is based on a very tight defence and the three goals we scored against them on the day
after Boxing Day was exceptional.
Arsenal 2 Sunderland 0
It is probably worth remarking now that whilst the three points dropped at the Stadium of Light did
not seem that bad at the time - Sunderland were in a great run of form - it now appears to be a
very costly result.
Having beaten Liverpool and Sunderland, Chelsea's lead has been cut to six points.
A Sp*rs-supporting friend (I know...) of mine told me a good one yesterday. Really, a brilliant
joke. "How do you know it's Spring?" he asked me smirking like a twat. "Because Arsenal's season is
over".
I should have just punched him; when confronted with neanderthals it is by far the easiest
approach.
With the news that Fabregas is out for the season (bar a potential Champions League final) and
Arshavin is also out for three weeks, comes the realisation that currently this team lacks goal
big-time. As the man from East Lower notes, half the goals Arsenal have scored this season have
come from players who are now injured.
Arsenal 1 Wolves 0
The Birmingham match report last week was entitled 'It's not over till it's over'. Good to see that
Arsenal are taking heed of this blog. Because with 60 seconds to play, we were going to be five
points behind Chelsea (nominally six because of goal difference) and the fat lady was warming up
her voice in the tunnel.
T*ttenham 2 Arsenal 1
Let's not overdo the reaction to the match last night.
Arsenal were facing a team trying to prove something having been humiliated in the FA Cup and also
trying to prove something having not beaten Arsenal for eleven years. And amongst all this, it is
easy to overlook that they've become quite good.
Arsenal 0 Man City 0
I doubt I can tell you anything about the match itself which you haven't read elsewhere. But that
does not mean you should stop reading.
Because although the football on show yesterday did little to inspire anybody, it still provoked a
few questions.
First, why did Bendtner not start?
I know the season has gone. I know the focus is now all on the World Cup. But I felt, like a
marriage counsellor, that I needed to provide some closure on the season just gone so I wrote an
extra-long blog post rating all the midfield...
Tomas Rosicky 6.5 (N/A)
It's probably fair to say that Rosicky is given more leeway then several others by most fans.
Liverpool 1 Arsenal 1
And so it came to pass. Except the problem was that Jack Wilshere didn't manage to pass it on the
edge of his own box. Rather, he missed the ball, Mascherano played in Ngog who lashed home a fine
finish. And at that point, it was always going to be very hard to win the game.
Blackburn Rovers 1 Arsenal 2
At risk of coming across all Barack Obama, it looks like change has come to Arsenal over the
summer. And with it, there is now a hope that this could actually be a good season, not the slog
that I predicted a few weeks ago.
It's a hope tempered by the fact that as I type there is a little under 18 hours until the transfer
window closes.
Arsenal 4 Bolton Wanderers 1
Should I make a joke about how although it was a comprehensive victory, Arsenal's play had the
confidence and swagger of an elite private school. Alright, against my better judgement I will.
I should preface my thoughts on the Bolton game by saying this was a little like a match Arsenal
played circa 2004.
Arsenal 6 Braga 0
When Arsenal last played in the Champions League - in April against Barcelona at the Nou Camp - few
in the media rushed to point out how Arsenal were missing many of their top players. Instead (and
rightly so, in my opinion) they praised a quite extraordinary performance by Lionel Messi.
